Matches | √

Chapter Fifteen

glare | strong or dazzling light

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3/8/17

I SIT ON top of the kitchen counter with Asher, my legs criss crossed. A devil's food cake positioned between us, iced perfectly, and sitting delicately on a crystal platter. A platter that probably costs more than everything in my closet, twice over.

The cool granite counter chills my thighs since the only piece of clothing I'm wearing is Asher's button up. My eyes graze his bare limbs as the only remaining article of clothing on him are his boxer briefs. It should honestly be illegal to look this good almost naked. It's distracting. It's tempting. It's everything I don't need.

"This is amazing," he comments as he lifts another forkful into his mouth.

A faint flush coats my cheeks at his praise. "Thanks," I murmur out barely above a whisper before I begin to chew on the inside of my cheek.

"You don't get complimented enough," Asher states candidly pulling me from the slice of heaven in front of me.

My eyebrows pull together. "What do you mean?" I question awkwardly before I shift my body on the counter as nerves begin to slide their way through my veins.

He shrugs. "You always blush or clam up anytime someone says something nice about you," he says as if he's been observing me more than he's initially let on.

I let out a small scoff a bit annoyed at his blatant assumptions about me. "Well sorry I don't live in the world where everyone tells me how perfect I am every day," I tell him with narrowed eyes. I don't know what it is about Asher. He makes me want to fight back, to not let him walk over me. I want to be heard around him, I want to show him I have more inside of me.

A grin breaks out over his face at my words. "They don't say I'm perfect every single day," he teases with another bite of my flawlessly baked cake.

I roll my eyes at him. "Yeah right."

He taps his fork against his lips for a moment as he watches me. "The thing is," he continues as if he thinks I actually want to listen to more of his observations. "You only blush and freak out when it's a simple compliment, on your hair, your shirt, a cake you made," he says referencing the chocolates goodness between us with a small gesture with his fork. "But when I tell you how sexy you are, how perfect your body is, how hard you make me...." he trails as my body warms from the inside out at his words.

I feel my chest rise and fall quickly, my pulse pounds in my ears, my body tingles with an ache only he seems to be able to relieve.

My teeth skim my bottom lip before sinking in as my eyes scan his smooth skin, skin that I already miss pressed up against my own.

"That," he points out with excitement laced into a single word.

My body that had been leaning forward of its own accord falls back slightly as his sudden change in demeanor. "What?" I ask taken back and a little breathless.

"When I say those words you don't blush and get embarrassed," he tells me with a small tilt of his head, like he's trying to figure me out. "Your eyes darken, your body leans into mine, you want more, you want to hear more," he says as his eyes flicker over my body lightly.

"Whatever," I tell him, trying to turn the conversation away from me. Away from how I can't take a single compliment without feeling weird and turning stiff, but the moment Asher whispers dirty words I turn into this other person. Someone I've never seen before, someone I didn't even know existed within me.